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David, Moses and Isaiah were the words engraved above the stage where Hank Paulson, former Treasury Secretary, discussed turning to prayer and the role of the Brits during the financial crisis.

Paulson was talking about his new book, “On the Brink”, with Jeffrey Immelt, chief executive of GE, before a full house at the 92nd Street Y in New York city.

When asked if he wished he could have saved Lehman Brothers, Paulson said: “We worked very hard to do it and there is a misconception that there was some power or authority that we did not use.”

In his book Paulson describes how he blurted out “The British screwed us” after the Financial Services Authority, the UK regulator, refused to approve Barclays’ acquisition of Lehman. [Although Andrew Ross Sorkin in his book “Too Big Too Fail” writes that Paulson declared the British had “grin-f***ed us.”]

Last night Paulson said he regretted expressing his moment of frustration. He said: “If the situation was reversed I don’t know what decision I would have made.”

He described the extreme fear he felt after the FSA said no to the Lehman deal as his stomach tightened and he called his wife to ask her to pray for him. As has been recounted elsewhere she quoted from the second book of Timothy : "for God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" http://bit.ly/9tiMZb.